London to Barcelona: how to fly on a budget

One question I often get asked my family, friends and colleagues is how I can afford to fly so often. Other acquaintances who I follow on social media often also assume I’m on a prolonged gap year when we cross paths every couple of years.

Disclaimer: I work a full time office based 9-6 job Monday to Friday with 25 days annual leave.

Let me tell you, you can travel often by getting crafty with when you travel, how long for and which flights you book.

My recent trip to Barcelona is a case study of this so please keep reading 🙂 ️

How long did I travel to Barcelona?

I really wanted to take a long weekend over the May bank holiday. For readers outside of the UK, every May we have two public holidays both which sit on a Monday. This is perfect for a long weekend break, leaving Friday after work and returning Monday evening, enough time for a 3 day city break in Europe.

Train to Girona

The issue is that travelling on a bank holiday, everyone else has the same idea which can cause flight prices to hike upwards of £250. As much as I wanted to go away, should save that money for a longer trip.

I was determined for a weekend break, keep reading to find out what I did!

How to reach Barcelona on a budget

When doing the research I found the following budget airlines flew to Barcelona:VuelingEasyJetRyan AirNorwegian

As a first step I would recommend looking at these flights first to see if you can get a deal with airlines mentioned above. I would also look at booking them separately to see the best deal you can find.

Afterwards I figured there is another town called Girona about 100km from Barcelona which is where Ryan Air and Jet2 flies to and is really cheap!

Okay I know you’re thinking this sounds like too much of a hassle and quite far away from Barcelona itself.

However there is a train that takes you from Girona to Barcelona Sans station (the main train station in Barcelona) in 38 minutes which I think is super impressive! At Girona train station, the bus stop is next door and in 20 minutes you’ll be at the airport!

To balance the trip out I flew direct from Barcelona and back from Girona. This also gave me an excuse to visit a new town which was quaint and for Game of Thrones fans – an episode was filmed here!

Sample flight itinerary and costs

Train to Girona!

Outbound:Flew direct to Barcelona on Vueling £70

Inbound:Flew from Girona to London Stanstead for £65Bus to the airport £1.50Train from Barcelona Sans station to Girona £14

Total costs: £160.50

Yes once the costs are all added up it’s not the cheapest trip, but compared to the price to fly directly to Barcelona it is well worth the savings. Plus you also get to experience another city in Spain!

Taking a range of transport options gives a sense of adventure and the train is super comfy!